Larsen & Toubro and CASSIDIAN join forces in India to forge a long term partnership

Cassidian and Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Mumbai, join forces in the field of defence electronics. The Indian authorities have now approved the formation of a joint venture company between L&T and Cassidian, the newly renamed defence and security division of Europe’s leading aerospace and defence group – EADS.

The joint venture, based in Talegaon near Pune and in Bengaluru, will be active in the defence electronics market. It aims to cover manufacturing, design, engineering, distribution and marketing in the fields of electronic warfare, radars, avionics and mobile systems (such as bridges) for military applications. L&T will hold 74 per cent in the JV whereas Cassidian’s share will be at 26 per cent. The joint venture will cooperate closely with Cassidian’s new engineering centre in Bengaluru where systems design and engineering activities will be carried out in the fields of electronic warfare, radars and avionics for military application.

Mr M V Kotwal, Member of the Board, L&T and President Heavy Engineering said: “In addition to its other businesses, L&T has been a leading company in India for engineering, manufacture & integration of custom made technology-intensive equipment and systems. The coming together of L&T with Cassidian, the defence, electronics & security arm of the European defence & aerospace company – EADS, is a major milestone in the area of defence electronics. It will not only serve the Indian armed forces with state-of-the art technology, but also provide a platform for making significant contributions to the global market in high-technology defence equipment.”

Mr Bernd Wenzler, CEO Cassidian Electronics, said: “Cassidian is a high-tech company supporting global security by the development of high tech product and system solutions for armed forces and civil security worldwide. We are proud of joining forces with one of India’s biggest technology companies.” Wenzler continued: “Our joint venture is proof of our commitment to India. Cassidian would like to establish an Indian industrial base for our European technologies with the development of a long term partnership. We are prepared to bring additional capabilities into the JV company after the Indian laws allow an increase of shares up to 49 per cent.”

The new joint venture will deliver indigenous solutions for military requirements of Indian customers as well as the world market. Thus, the Indian JV company will provide the armed forces with locally produced high tech equipment and assured life-time support.

Recognizing L&T IES’ growing engineering engagements established with EADS Tier1 suppliers, EADS Group Procurement included L&T to be part of its E2S initiative on January this year. This agreement will also enable L&T to be part of EADS strategic programs.

Since 2006 Cassidian has been working in a successful partnership with the Defence Avionics Research Establishment (DARE), a reputed DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation) laboratory based in Bengaluru and cooperates with CABS (Centre for AirBorne Systems). On the 8th of February, Cassidian inaugurated an engineering centre in Bengaluru which will employ more than 100 Indian engineers in the midterm.

L&T has played a leading role in India’s indigenization effort for defence equipment and systems. With an impressive track record that includes design, development and manufacture of integrated multi-disciplinary defence systems, L&T has matured into a trusted partner for the Indian Armed Forces and DRDO.